Studies to determine how effective traffic lights really are have been called for by road traffic experts. Research in the UK has found that traffic lights are more likely to cause congestion than to alleviate it - and that four out of five traffic lights should be torn down.The UK's Institute for Economic Affairs found that a two-minute delay to every car journey caused by lights would cost the economy about £16-billion a year, and that traffic lights and speed bumps had an adverse effect on drivers' attitudes."As soon as drivers are free of vexatious regulation," the institute's experts maintain, "they behave differently. They see pedestrians and cyclists as fellow road-users and make common cause."It becomes a case of 'After you' instead of 'Get out of my way'," the institute's report said."Conventional traffic control demands disproportionate attention. It promotes competition for gaps and 'green time'. Removing it stimulates cooperation and empathy. But, so far, despite safety, social and economic benefits, the unregulated approach has been adopted in very few locations."SA Automobile Association spokesman Layton Beard said traffic circles were a better option than traffic lights but feasibility studies were needed."We are quite in favour of roundabouts. They reduce the delay time between one point and another. That improves not only travelling time and traffic flow [but is] better for the environment and less expensive."University of Cape Town's Centre of Transport Studies' Marianne Vanderschuren said traffic circles cost more to build but function no matter what."They do not use electricity and need less maintenance.A traffic light costs at least R10000 a year to run and maintain," she said.Cape Town and Johannesburg each have about 1500 intersections with traffic lights.But Cape Town said the solution was a shift from private to public transport.Mayoral committee member for transport Brett Herron said that people using roads that had reached full capacity would endure traffic jams irrespective of whether there were traffic lights...